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AB, a 4" Maksutov on an alt-az (AZ3) mount might squeeze in the budget. Myastroshop have the 102mm Skywatcher Mak, which should be a decent scope. I'm sure they could swing a deal with an AZ3. The advantage of this scope is that it would do higher magnifications than the achromatic refractor without image breakdown, i.e., better view of planets, super-close nature/bird watching. The advantage of the short refractor (for astronomy) is very wide views are possible. But more often you want to get close rather than wide. The Mak will still frame just about all deep sky objects comfortably.
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